It was a game that not so long ago would have resulted in a rout by Pittsburgh. The fact that the Habs are competing hard this deep into a lost season is certainly encouraging but attempting to read anything into it beyond the here and now is kind of futile.

Internal competition and the emergence of a couple of key young players has sparked renewed interest by some of the same people who, just weeks ago, couldn’t get rid of their season tickets in the reds.

But know this; the players actually see the end of the season. It’s much easier to get up for games – and stay in them – when you know the end is near. It’s not like heading to the rink with no hope plus another 30, 40 or 50 games to play.

Enjoy the final three weeks. But what’s going down here is not the 2018-19 season in any way, shape or form. That doesn’t really begin until April 9.